Improvement in wheel-vehicles



H; C. DREW.

Runnifig-Gear.

Patented Sept. 22, 1863.

S e S s e n H W AM. PHOTO-LITHO. CO. NM (OSBDRNES PHOCE SS.)

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FEIcE.

H. O. DREV, OF OSHAWVA, CANADA WEST.

IMPROVEMENT IN WHEEL-VEHICLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,025, dated September 22, 1863.

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, H. O. DREW, of Oshawa, in the Province of Canada West, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wheel-Vehicles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making apart of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side sectional view of my invention, taken in the line a: m, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan of the same. Fig.3 is a front sectional view of the same, taken in the line y y, Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to a novel arrangement of thefront wheels and draftpole thereof, whereby the wheels in passing over obstructions which may lie in their path are prevented from acting upon the draft-pole and moving the same laterally, as hitherto-a result which greatly fatigues the team.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents the front and B the back axlebed of a four-wheel vehicle; (3, the reach or perch, the ends of which are permanently secured to the axle-beds, the front one, A, being fixed so as not to turn as hitherto. D D represent the back and D D the front wheels. These wheels are attached to separate or independent axles E, which are fitted loosely in proper bearin gs, a, underneath the axle-beds A B. The axles E are of slight taper form, and they are fitted quite loosely in their outer bearings, a. To the ends of both axle-beds A B there are attached friction-wheels F, which bear on the upper surfaces of the axles E and friction-wheels G, which are also attached to the ends of said beds, and bear against the back sides of the axles. These friction-Wheels have their axes I) attached to the ends of bent or right-angular heads H, which are secured to the ends of the beds, the wheels G being attached to the outer parts of the lower horizontal arms 0 of the heads H, and the wheels F, attached to the upper parts of the vertical arms (Z thereof. The wheels F diminish the friction produced by the weight of the load of the vehicle, while the wheels G diminish the friction produced by the draft movement. The axles E are retained in proper position in their bearings by means of nuts 0 on their inner ends.

The axles E of the front wheels, D D, are differently arranged from the back ones. The heads H are not attached permanently to the front. axle-bed, but are secured thereto by vertical pivots j, which pass through ears or lugs g at the inner sides of the heads, and through the axle-bed A, as shown clearly in Fig. 3. This arrangement, it will be seen, admits of the heads working or turning horizontally on the pivots f. The inner bearings, a, also, of the axles of the front wheels, instead of being attached to the front axlebed, A, are at the inner ends of metal bars I I. which are connected at their outer ends to the heads H by the pivots f, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, and as the frictionwheels F G of the front axle-bed are attached to the heads H thereof in the same way as the friction-wheels of the back axle-bed, it will be seen that the front wheels, D D, and their axles E will be allowed to turn on the pivots f as centers, and the wheels F G have the same relative position with the front axles, E, at all points of their movement. The inner ends of the front axles, E, are fitted and workin segment-guides J, attached to-the under side of the front axle-bed, A.

K is the draft-pole, which is attached by a link-joint, g, to the center of the front axle-bed, A. In the back part of the draft-pole K there is placed a bar, L, said bar being secured centrally in the draftpole by a pivot, 71, on which it is allowed to work freely. The ends of the bar L are connected by pivots i 'i to barsj j, the back ends of which are pernianently attached to the bars I I near the pivots f.

By this arrangement it will be seen that a leverage-connection is formed between the draft-pole K and the front axles, E, and that the front wheels may be turned or cramped by a very slight lateral action of the team on the draft-pole, and the vehicle therefore readily turned. At the same time it will also be seen that there is a very slight leverage-power for wheels to act upon the draft-pole, as the pivots f, which are fulcrum-pins, are quite near wheels; consequently the wheels in passing over obstructions will not act upon the draftpole and throw it violently to the right or left,

as is the casein ordinary wheel-vehicles.v This is an import-ant feature of the invention, and is a great relief to the team.

This invention is applicable to all kinds of wheel-vehicles, and its adoption will not add materially to the cost of construction.

I do not claim, broadly, the application of friction-wheels to the axles of wheel-vehicles to diminish friction in the running thereof; nor do I claim as new the idea of placing the wheels upon separate or divided and movable axles; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I do claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of the segment-guides J J, pivoted bar L, and barsj j with the front axles and the tongue K, in the manner herein shown and described.

H. O. DREW.

Witnesses 1). THURSTON,

R. J. KIMBALL. 

